Burial vault



ix Y i BURIAL VAULT Filed on. 11, 1955 INVENTOR. SYDNEY L.' SCHULTZ P25 mmafim ATTORNEYS Sept. 16, 1958 s.| .sHuL+i 2,851,761'

United States Patent Ofiice I 2,851,761 Patented Sept. 16, 1958 BURIAL VAULT Sydney L. Schultz, Galion, Ohio, assignor to The Perfection Burial Vault Company, Gallon, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application October 11, 1955, Serial No. 539,880

1 Claim. (Cl. 27-35) The present invention relates in general to burial vaults, and more particularly to burial vaults made of steel or other metal.

It is a primary object of my invention to provide a burial vault which will utilize an air seal to prevent the ingress of water to the interior of the vault.

Another object of my invention is to provide a locking mechanism for a burial vault of the character described.

A further object of my invention is to provide a locking mechanism which is readily accessible and which is simply arranged.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a burial vault embodying the features of my invention, portions thereof being broken away to show the interior.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view (rotated 90") taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is afragmentary view in elevation of the left end of the vault shown in Fig. 1, showing details of the 7 locking mechanism.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of the locking mechanism shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on line 55 of Fig. 3.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the burial vault consists essentially of a cover or dome and an inverted base 11. The dome and base are each preferably made of sheet material such as steel or the like.

The dome 10 has vertical end walls 12 and vertical side walls 13 which are inclined or bent convergently near their upper edges to provide sloping portions 14 which join a flat horizontally extending top wall 15. The top wall 15 is thus somewhat narrower than the width of the dome itself. Secured to each end wall 12 of the dome is an ornamental handle 16. Secured to the sloping wall portions 14 are pairs of outrigger handles 17 which project outwardly from the surface 14 so as to form channels or loops through which lowering straps or hooks can be passed when the vault is lowered at graveside. The uppermost edge 18 of each handle 17 is substantially coplanar with the plane of the top wall 15 so that the handles 17 act as outriggers to increase the bearing surface of the top of the dome in the event the burial vaults have to be placed one on top of another. The lower edges of the end walls 12 and the side walls 13 define a rectangular opening, as there is no bottom on the dome until it is assembled to the base 11.

The base 11 has a bottom wall 19 and upstanding side walls 20 and end walls 21. Along each side wall 20, adjacent the lower edge thereof, are secured laterally projecting retainer loops 22 which also serve as rests or abutments for the dome 10. The base 11 is of such dimension that it will nest into the dome 10, as shown in Fig. 2, when the dome is placed thereon. The walls 20 and 21 of the base project upwardly into the dome for a distance equivalent to from one-fourth to one-third the height of the dome and lie closely adjacent and parallel to the walls 12 and 13 of the dome 10. A narrow peripheral free space or passageway 23 thus is formed between the base walls and the dome walls due to the fact that no sealing strips or the like are provided. It will be understood that the relative dimension of the passageway 23 has been exaggerated in the drawings for purposes of clarity, and that in practice the base 11 will fit more closely within the dome 10, than is apparent from the drawings. The dome is supported at a fixed level relatively to the base by means of the rests 22 which project slightly beyond the confines of the dome.

The base also includes a pair of spaced V-shaped crossmembers '24 which are fixedly secured to the interior surface of the bottom wall 19 of the base 11 and which serve as elevated rests for the burial casket which is accommodated within the vault.

At each end of the vault, a locking mechanism is provided for securing the dome 10 against removal from the base 11. Such securement has been found to be desirable and essential both during commercial transport of the vault and during the graveside proceedings. To each end wall 21 of the base is fixedly secured an angle element 25 having a horizontally extending ledge portion 26 and oppositely directed vertical flange portions 27 and 28. The flange 27 is secured, as by welding, to the end wall 21 adjacent the bottom edge thereof and the ledge 26 is thus disposed in coplanar relationship with the rests 22 and serves to supportthe dome.

A cut-out or recess 29 is provided centrally of the ledge 26 and the flange 28. The recess 29 provides clearance for a keeper or retainer element 30 which is secured centrally of the end wall 12 of the dome adjacent the lower edge thereof. The keeper element 30 is substantially U-shaped and has its leg portions 31 and 32 affixed to opposite faces of the end wall 12, as by welding. The web or cross-piece 33 of the U projects downwardly and outwardly from the lower edge of the end wall 12 and traverses the ledge 26 so as to project beyond the underside thereof.

A latch rod or bar 34 is slidably secured to the under side of the ledge 26 by means of tubular guides or sleeves 35 and 36. The latch rod 34 is formed with a portion 37 which is parallel to and offset from another portion 38 by means of an angularly extending median portion 39. The portion 37 is guided in its movement by the sleeve 35 and is in axial alignment with the opening 49 provided by the keeper element 30. The rod portion 38 is guided by the sleeve 36 and terminates in a lateral extension 41 which serves as a handle for convenient manipulation of the latch rod. The juncture of the angular portion 39 with the portions 37 and 38 of the latch rod provides shoulders or abutments 42 and 43 which limit the movement of the latch rod 34 in the sleeves 35 and 36.

As best seen in Fig. 4, when the latch rod is in the retracted or unlocked position, the shoulder 43 abuts the sleeve 36 and prevents inadvertent complete withdrawal of the rod from the sleeves 35 and 36 such s might occur through careless manipulation or during transport of the vault.

When the latch rod 34 is advanced into locking position, as shown in dotted outline in Fig. 4, the shoulder 42 abuts the sleeve 35 and thus positively indicates and defines the completion of the locking movement.

*It will be apparent that when the latch rod 34 traverses the keeper element 30, the dome and the base are interlocked.

During the burial proceedings, the casket is placed on the casket rests 24 in the base 11 and the dome 10 is then placed over the base by means of the ornamental handles 16. The dome is then locked to the base by means of the latch rod 34, as above described. The entire vault and contents can then be lowered into the grave by means of lowering straps which are trained through the outrigger loops 17. If for some reason it is necessary to lower the base 11 before the dome is assembled thereto, the handles or loops 22 on the base can be utilized for that purpose.

When the vault has been buried, it is subject to the influx of ground waters which often rise to levels substantially above the level of the base 11. Such ground waters exert pressures which are often great enough to cause water seepage through sealing strips or the like which are customarily utilized to provide a joint between the body portion and cover portion of a burial vault. However, in the burial vault herein described the entire dome 10 is a single unitary piece which is free of any sealing joints. Ground waters can only enter the dome from the bottom, through the passageway 23 between the base walls and the dome walls. The entrance of Water in this manner is resisted by the air pressure within the dome. As the water pressure increases, the water will rise in the passageway 23 and will compress the contained air so that an increas ing counter-pressure is created. It has been found that, under ordinary conditions of internment, ground water pressures will not occur which are great enough to raise the water level in the passageway 23 beyond the upper edge of the base walls, when the base walls extend from one-third to one-fourth the height of the dome. Thus the air chamber provided by the dome serves as a means for preventing ground waters from entering the vault and damaging the casket.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention,

4 herewith shown and described, is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of my invention, or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

In a burial vault, the combination of a hollow dome defining a rectangular opening at its bottom, said dome having a horizontally extending top wall, substantially vertically extending side walls and inclined convergent wall surfaces on said side walls extending to said top wall, loop elements secured to said inclined wall surfaces, said loop elements each defining a passageway adapted to receive lowering straps therethrough, a rectangular base having upstanding wall portions extending into the opening in said dome, a laterally-extending supporting ledge provided on said base at opposite ends thereof and underlying said dome, each of said ledges having a marginal recess therein, keeper elements providedon said dome and projecting downwardly into said recesses, a latch rod slidably secured to each of said ledges and traversing said keeper element to lock said dome to said base, and means provided on each of said ledges for limiting the movement of said latch rod relatively to said keeper elcmcnt.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 319,642 Thayer June 9, 1885 884,003 Barton Apr. 7, 1908 1,473,534 Albrecht Nov. 6, 1923 1,475,756 Duval Nov. 27, 1923 1,666,148 Rick Apr. 17, 1928 1,713,479 Monie May 14, 1929 2,406,522 Woody Aug. 27, 1946 2,674,024 Dioguardi Apr. 6 1954 

